Introducing non-contact deposition technologies, such as inkjet printing or aerosol dispensing in the manufacturing of solar cells, flat panel displays, thin film transistors (TFT) or printed circuits may enable depositing conducting lines on a substrate. The required conductivity of conducting lines may need to be balanced with various other requirements or constraints. For example, while wider conducting lines may better conduct electric energy produced by solar cells, they may also block sun or other light required in the process. However, decreasing the width of the conducting lines may result in undesirable reduced electrical conductivity. Furthermore, a production, e.g., of solar cells, may require depositing a number of conducting lines in a respective number of orientations and/or a respective number of widths. In addition, conducting lines are typically required to be deposited in a specific location on a substrate and according to a specific distribution that may be a predefined distance between the conducting lines or another applicable relation.
Current systems and methods suitable for mass manufacturing of solar cells utilize conveyor processing to translate a substrate in a linear scan along a single axis typically referred to as the “scan axis” or “scan direction”. Such conveyor processing is typically combined with a plurality of nozzles arranged in a print head essentially orthogonally to the scan axis or direction, often referred to as the “cross scan” axis. However, in prior art systems and methods, when a deposition of material is to be according to predefined patterns or parameters, nozzles may need to be specially arranged, installed or controlled. For example, printing a number of parallel lines on a substrate may require removing, disabling, interleaving or otherwise maintaining some of the nozzles. It is a technological challenge to enable system and method for a simple, quick and cost effective deposition of conducting lines on a substrate according to a predefined set of parameters such as width, orientation and distribution.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.